Aura
Light echoes and blurs
Thump, thump, thump
Your eyes begin to pulse
warning of a unwanted visit
from an old and spiteful companion
pepper and lemon fill your mouth and
nose
retching acrid acidic air
Close the blinds, flick at the switches
off, off, off
dim the screens, rustle the curtains
closed,
turn the electric clock to the wall
Light is not your friend.
sitting still, swallowing the chalky
solutions
The roil of your stomach roars
Not at home for this.
Dash, dodge, deflect
ignoring the knock on the door of your
conscious
the room revolves around
it's slow orbit convincingly real
clinging to the carpet cautiously
grasping at ephemeral hope of escape
(21 lines)
Fourth Quarter
First it is darkness – the world dims
The sun has gone down too soon
everyone grumbles, they miss the light.
Then it is the emerald painted white
A frosted tip hairstyle for the lawn
Glimpsed outside a window.
Now it is the breath that steams ahead
a warm puff then a sharp intake.
Barriers are erected, faces lost
beneath scarves
Next it is glass on the ground,
Footsteps cautious, grip unsure
Carefully, carefully down the street.
Following it is the clouds – a
warning sign.
White sky, white wind, white world
The flurries begins to fall.
So it is here, the world is blanketed
Traffic stills, life disrupted
For a quarter of it all.
(18 lines)
